Barracuda Networks Launches Integrated Product Suite for K-12

• By Leila Meyer
• 03/20/13

Barracuda Networks, a provider of security and storage solutions, has launched an integrated, centrally managed security and data protection product suite for K-12 schools, as well as education pricing programs and webinars.

According to the company, the product suite and pricing programs are intended "to help K-12 education customers address the mounting IT challenges resulting from increasing network traffic, more stringent regulatory requirements, higher awareness of online student safety, and vast numbers of mobile devices being used both on and off the campus."

The security and data protection suite includes Barracuda Web Filter, Barracuda Backup, and Barracuda Message Archiver, all of which can be managed through the Barracuda Cloud Control central management interface.

Barracuda Web Filter is an appliance that offers Web content filtering and granular policy management for CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act) compliance, bandwidth management, and network security. It monitors social media activity in real time and detects and removes spyware. According to the company, it has enough capacity to handle the traffic needs of large schools and school districts.

Barracuda Backup is a plug-and-play backup appliance for onsite backups with off-site and cloud-based replications for data protection. It provides fully automated disk-based backups with compression and data de-duplication to reduce disk space requirements.

Barracuda Message Archiver is an email archive solution that provides regulatory compliance, e-discovery, forensics, and policy alerts. It integrates with Barracuda Web Filter for automatic archiving of social messaging content to identify cyber-bullying incidents. It can optimize the performance of the email server by offloading email storage and user traffic from the server.

"With school-issued iPads, fast-growing volumes of data, and the growth of social media along with corresponding cyberbullying, IT for schools is quickly becoming more complex," said Stephen Pao, vice president of product management for Barracuda Networks, in a prepared statement. "Our integrated offering, backed up by award-winning customer support, is designed to help educational institutions move quickly to address these challenges, despite limited staffs and shrinking budgets."

Barracuda Networks is offering a number of special pricing options for schools, including discounts on hardware, volume discounts on select models of Barracuda Web Filter, education editions of select models of Barracuda Web Filter, and extended payment terms.

Barracuda Networks is also hosting a webinar series for school and district IT administrators. The "Making Social Networking Safe for Schools" webinar series will take place on April 2 at 9:00 am PDT, and the "Extending Security Beyond Network Borders for Safe 1-to-1 and BYOD in Schools" will take place on March 26, at 9:00 am PDT.

Further information about the K-12 education products, pricing, and webinars can be found at barracuda.com/programs/k12.